The Detroit Lions make surprisingly few roster changes for the Seahawks game

A few years ago, the NFL began allowing teams to name two players from the practice squad on game day, temporarily increasing teams’ rosters to 55 players to choose from for each contest.

In seemingly every game since then, the Detroit Lions have exploited this rule by promoting one or two players from the practice squad to give them a specific position or to give a practice squad player a chance to make an impact on game day.

However, for Monday night’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, the Lions have decided not to take a single player off the practice squad, according to a team source. They will enter Monday with their 52-man roster as is. Ifeatu Melifonwu’s place in the squad remains vacant after he was placed on injured reserve on Saturday.

This is a somewhat surprising move considering the team is currently injured. Without Frank Ragnow, the Lions are shorthanded in the middle. Graham Glasgow is expected to take his place. They don’t have a clear center option after Glasgow, although Michael Niese had plenty of representatives there in training camp.

Detroit could be in similar trouble at safety this week. Not only will Melifonwu miss the next four games after being placed on injured reserve this week, Brian Branch is also doubtful to play after being demoted Sunday with an unspecified illness. That leaves only Kerby Joseph, Brandon Joseph and undrafted rookie Loren Strickland available.

It’s possible that the lack of movement is a positive sign for Branch, but there also may not be a viable safety option on the practice squad. Erick Hallett was added just a month ago, while Morice Norris was only recently re-signed after being released/injured in early August.

The final aspect of the squad that has dealt with some injuries is defense. Last week, the Lions placed both defensive end Marcus Davenport and SAM linebacker Derrick Barnes on injured reserve. But with Josh Paschal replacing Davenport and Detroit’s big linebacker corps filling in for Barnes’ role, there was no clear need to call on the practice squad for reinforcements.